From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

.Witchcraft, in various historical, anthropological, religious and mythological contexts, is the use of supernatural or magical powers.^Witchcraft, in various historical, anthropological, religious and mythological contexts, is the use of certain kinds of alleged supernatural or magical powers.

.Witchcraft can refer to the use of such powers in order to inflict harm or damage upon members of a community or their property.^Splash from either liquid inflicts 2d4 points of acid damage upon the witch, which can only be healed with magic.

.Other uses of the term distinguish between bad witchcraft and good witchcraft, the latter involving the use of these powers to heal someone from bad witchcraft.^This type of witchcraft involved the use of charms and supernatural forces for fortune telling, fertility rituals, healing, "the casting of spells, the making of storms, converse with spirits, [and] [*pg 358] sympathetic magic."

.The concept of witchcraft is normally treated as a cultural ideology, a means of explaining human misfortune by blaming it either on a supernatural entity or a known person in the community.^Academically, the concept of witchcraft is normally treated as a cultural ideology, a means of explaining human misfortune by blaming it either on a supernatural entity or a known person in the community.

^The contributors to this volume embrace the challenge of exploring “witchcraft” as a mode of experiencing and explaining human circumstances as well as confronting the limitations of their own intellectual traditions and paradigms.

.Belief in witchcraft, and by consequence witch-hunts, is found in many cultures worldwide, today mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa (e.g.^It was the general belief in Paisley that the devil had strangled him, lest he should have revealed in his last moments too many of the unholy secrets of witchcraft.

^The classical period of witch-hunts in Europe fall into the Early Modern period or about 1450 to 1700, spanning the upheavals of the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, resulting in tens of thousand of executions.

^The term "witchcraft" can have positive or negative connotations depending on cultural context; for instance, in post-Christian European cultures it has historically been associated with evil and the Devil, while most contemporary people who self-identify as witches see it as beneficent and morally positive.

.The "witch-cult hypothesis", a controversial theory that European witchcraft was a suppressed pagan religion, was popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries.^Under the monotheistic religions of the Levant (primarily Christianity, and Islam), witchcraft came to be associated with heresy, rising to a fever pitch among the Catholics, Protestants, and secular leadership of the European Late Medieval/Early Modern period.

.Since the mid-20th century, Witchcraft has become the self-designation of a branch of neopaganism, especially in the Wicca tradition following Gerald Gardner, who claimed a religious tradition of Witchcraft with pre-Christian roots.^It may surpise many that the fear of witchcraft continued well into the 20th century.

^Please look at the history of the colonization of the United States and it may answer some of your curiosity ;) For the person who seems to think that Wicca and the Witch trials are the same: Wicca was founded in 1948 by Gerald B. Gardner.

Witchcraft historiography

.Historians of European witchcraft have found the anthropological definition difficult to apply to European and British witchcraft, which does not match African models.^Sources for the above references : 1 Parrinder, Geoggrey: Witchcraft: European and African, New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1963, p.

.The presence or absence of magical techniques seems to have been of little concern to those participating in witch trials, and some of the accused really had attempted to cause harm by mere ill-wishing.^What caused the Salem witch trials?

^The presence or absence of magical techniques seems to have been of little concern to those participating in witch trials, and some of the accused really had attempted to cause harm by mere ill-wishing.

.As in anthropology, witchcraft is seen by historians as an ideology for explaining misfortune, however this ideology manifested in diverse ways.^As in anthropology, witchcraft is seen by historians as an ideology for explaining misfortune, however this ideology manifested in diverse ways.

.Richard Kieckhefer places the accused into three categories: Those caught in the act of positive or negative sorcery; well-meaning sorcerers or healers who lost their clients' or the authorities' trust; and those who did nothing more than gain the enmity of their neighbours.^I mean how more clear can he get than when he says women should submit & obey their husbands, should not speak in church, should have have authority over men, etc.

^Nothing was more common, in those days, than to interpret all meteoric appearances, and other natural phenomena, that occurred with less regularity than the rise and set of sun and moon, as so many revelations from a supernatural source.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne 17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.gutenberg.org [Source type: Original source]

^Trust me it’s harder than ever just look at all the people who are against God.

.To these Christina Larner adds a fourth category: those reputed to be witches and surrounded with an aura of witch-beliefs.^To these Christina Larner adds a fourth category: those reputed to be witches and surrounded with an aura of witch-beliefs.

^Accordingly, Christina Larner's "identification of the relationship of witch-hunting to woman-hunting" seems well-grounded, as does her conclusion that the witch-hunts were "sex-related" if not "sex-specific."

The "neighbourhood witch" or "social witch": a witch who curses a neighbour following some conflict.

The "magical" or "sorcerer" witch: either a professional healer, sorcerer, seer or midwife, or a person who has through magic increased her fortune to the perceived detriment of a neighbouring household; due to neighbourly or community rivalries and the ambiguity between positive and negative magic, such individuals can become labelled as witches.

The "supernatural" or "night" witch: portrayed in court narratives as a demon appearing in visions and dreams.

^If the community accepts magical practice in general, then there is typically a clear separation between witches (in this sense) and the terms used to describe legitimate practitioners.

."Neighbourhood witches" are the product of neighbourhood tensions, and are found only in self-sufficient serf village communities where the inhabitants largely rely on each other.^Marked: The witch has a deformity that clearly separates her from others of her race, such as green skin, a long warty nose, a large hump, or cloven feet.

.Such accusations follow the breaking of some social norm, such as the failure to return a borrowed item, and any person part of the normal social exchange could potentially fall under suspicion.^Such accusations follow the breaking of some social norm, such as the failure to return a borrowed item, and any person part of the normal social exchange could potentially fall under suspicion.

^Many herbal practitioners have also used to heal uterine prolapse (falling down or slipping of a body part from its normal position) or incapacitated condition following any miscarriage or childbirth to firm up the uterine muscles.

.Claims of "sorcerer" witches and "supernatural" witches could arise out of social tensions, but not exclusively; the supernatural witch in particular often had nothing to do with communal conflict, but expressed tensions between the human and supernatural worlds; and in Eastern and Southeastern Europe such supernatural witches became an ideology explaining calamities that befell entire communities.^This use of the term is most often found in accusations against individuals who are suspected of causing harm in the community by way of supernatural means.

Demonology

.Under the monotheistic religions of the Levant (namely, Christianity and Islam), sorcery came to be associated with heresy and apostasy.^There is goodness in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Islam, Judaism, and many other religions besides Christianity.

.Throughout this time, it was increasingly believed that Christianity was engaged in an apocalyptic battle against the Devil and his secret army of witches, who had entered into a diabolical pact.^For those who do not know it Witches dont believe in the devil.

.In total, tens or hundreds of thousands of people were executed, and others were imprisoned, tortured, banished, and had lands and possessions confiscated.^Hundreds of thousans of people WERE NOT executed.

[8][9][10].Accusations of witchcraft were frequently combined with other charges of heresy against such groups as the Cathars and Waldensians.^Accusations of witchcraft were frequently combined with other charges of heresy against such groups as the Cathars and Waldensians.

^In other words, defendants argue that the deceased's threats or actions allegedly involving witchcraft are argued to constitute such provocation that the defendant killed the deceased in the heat of passion.

.The Malleus Maleficarum, a famous witch-hunting manual used by both Catholics and Protestants, outlines how to identify a witch, what makes a woman more likely to be a witch, how to put a witch to trial and how to punish a witch.^Some of these disclosures were too much even for the abundant faith of King James, and he more than once exclaimed, that the witches were like their master, "extreme lyars."

.In the modern Western world, witchcraft accusations have often accompanied the satanic ritual abusemoral panic.^In South Africa and Zimbabwe, accusations of witchcraft brought to courts often come in the form of "imputations" of witchcraft.

."There were a number of interchangeable terms for these practitioners, ‘white’, ‘good’, or ‘unbinding’ witches, blessers, wizards, sorcerers, however ‘cunning-man’ and ‘wise-man’ were the most frequent."^Witchcraft was practiced by "cunning folk," a term for practitioners of "white magic."

[11].The contemporary Reginald Scott noted “At this day it is indifferent to say in the English tongue, ‘she is a witch’ or ‘she is a wise woman’”.^So if anyone has a problem with warlock, realize the intention here, note that it only says "often called" (so you can still call your male witches witches), and just deal with it.

[12].While cunning-folk could command a lot of respect, public perceptions of them were often ambivalent and a little fearful, for many were deemed just as capable of harming as of healing.^Her career for many years was such as to command the respect and fear of the people.

[13].Throughout Europe many such healers and wise men and women were convicted of witchcraft (Éva Pócs' 'sorcerer witches'): many English 'witches' convicted of consorting with demons seem to have been cunning folk whose fairyfamiliars had been demonised;[14] many French devins-guerisseurs were accused of witchcraft;[15] and over half the accused witches in Hungary seem to have been healers.^Many many million women were accused of being witches yet none of them were.

.Some of the healers and diviners historically accused of witchcraft have considered themselves mediators between the mundane and spiritual worlds, roughly equivalent to shamans.^Some of the healers and diviners historically accused of witchcraft have considered themselves mediators between the mundane and spiritual worlds, roughly equivalent to shamans .

[17].Such people described their contacts with fairies, spirits or the dead, often involving out-of-body experiences and travelling through the realms of an 'other-world'.[18] Beliefs of this nature are implied in the folklore of much of Europe, and were explicitly described by accused witches in central and southern Europe.^It was very strange how people were being accused as witches and users of witchcraft without any real evidence and it was even stranger to see that people truly believed in the accusers.

^Such helpfulness was found in her,—so much power to do, and power to sympathize,—that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne 17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.gutenberg.org [Source type: Original source]

.Repeated themes include participation in processions of the dead or large feasts, often presided over by a female divinity who teaches magic and gives prophecies; and participation in battles against evil spirits, 'vampires' or 'witches' to win fertility and prosperity for the community.^Repeated themes include participation in processions of the dead or large feasts, often presided over by a female divinity who teaches magic and gives prophecies; and participation in battles against evil spirits, 'vampires' or 'witches' to win fertility and prosperity for the community.

Alleged practices

.Practices to which the witchcraft label has historically been applied are those which influence another person's mind, body, or property against his or her will, or which are believed, by the person doing the labelling, to undermine the social or religious order.^Influenced by Romanticism, the Transcendentalists respected the individual spirit and the natural world, believing that divinity was present everywhere, in nature and in each person.

.Some modern commentators consider the malefic nature of witchcraft to be a Christian projection.^Some modern commentators, especially neopagan ones, consider the malefic nature of witchcraft to be a Christian projection.

.The concept of a magic-worker influencing another person's body or property against his or her will was clearly present in many cultures, as there are traditions in both folk magic and religious magic that have the purpose of countering malicious magic or identifying malicious magic users.^The folk magic used to identify or protect against malicious magic users is often indistinguishable from that used by the witches themselves.

^The concept of a magic-worker influencing another person's body or property against his or her will was clearly present in many cultures, as there are traditions in both folk magic and religious magic that have the purpose of countering malicious magic or identifying malicious magic users.

.Many examples can be found in ancient texts, such as those from Egypt and Babylonia, where malicious magic is believed to have the power to influence the mind, body or possessions, malicious magic users can become a credible cause for disease, sickness in animals, bad luck, sudden death, impotence and other such misfortunes.^This demonstration of power caused the deputy to believe.

.Witchcraft of a more benign and socially acceptable sort may then be employed to turn the malevolence aside, or identify the supposed evil-doer so that punishment may be carried out.^Folk magic of a more benign and socially acceptable sort may then be employed to turn the malevolence aside, or identify the supposed witch so that punishment may be carried out.

.The folk magic used to identify or protect against malicious magic users is often indistinguishable from that used by the witches themselves.^The folk magic used to identify or protect against Witches is often indistinguishable from that used by the witches themselves.

.There has also existed in popular belief the concept of white witches and white witchcraft, which is strictly benevolent.^Still dangerous The image of witchcraft in the popular mindset has come a long way since the time of the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem witch trials, when thousands of women were persecuted, prosecuted, tortured and even burned for their beliefs.

.Many neopagan witches strongly identify with this concept, and profess ethical codes that prevent them from performing magic on a person without their request.^A witch is considered a person of magical powers.

.Where belief in malicious magic practices exists, such practitioners are typically forbidden by law as well as hated and feared by the general populace, while beneficial magic is tolerated or even accepted wholesale by the people – even if the orthodox establishment objects to it.^Witchcraft practices (in the common, malefic sense) are typically forbidden by law where belief in them exists (as well as being hated and feared by the general populace) while folk magic is tolerated or even accepted wholesale by the people, even if the orthodox establishment objects to it.

Spell casting

.Probably the most obvious characteristic of a witch was the ability to cast a spell, a "spell" being the word used to signify the means employed to accomplish a magical action.^This is the philosophy of the spell-casting witch.

^This type of witchcraft involved the use of charms and supernatural forces for fortune telling, fertility rituals, healing, "the casting of spells, the making of storms, converse with spirits, [and] [*pg 358] sympathetic magic."

.A spell could consist of a set of words, a formula or verse, or a ritual action, or any combination of these.^A spell could consist of a set of words, a formula or verse, or a ritual action, or any combination of these.

^Most of us continually strive to consider all potential outcomes of our thoughts and actions pausing to seriously consider the consequences before undertaking a ritual, spell or rite that could go astray.

What is Wicca, Witchcraft and Paganism18 January 2010 11:011 UTCwww.wicca.com [Source type: Original source]

^But I believe in Fairy Tales and as a child kissed every frog I could find to set the Prince free from the evil wicked witch spell.

[19].Spells traditionally were cast by many methods, such as by the inscription of runes or sigils on an object to give it magical powers; by the immolation or binding of a wax or clay image (poppet) of a person to affect him or her magically; by the recitation of incantations; by the performance of physical rituals; by the employment of magical herbs as amulets or potions; by gazing at mirrors, swords or other specula (scrying) for purposes of divination; and by many other means.^The group chanted in between each ritual, but no spells or magic were performed.

Conjuring the dead

.Strictly speaking, "necromancy" is the practice of conjuring the spirits of the dead for divination or prophecy – although the term has also been applied to raising the dead for other purposes.^In other words, children are covered by their parents, wife is covered by her husband, husband is covered by the Holy Spirit who communicates with Jesus Christ and Almighty God (divine order).

^Many of them have ridiculous claims like "how to raise spirit armies", "the secret of levitation", and other bizarre things.

Mastering The Magick Of Witchcraft: The Ancient Secrets Of Magick For Love, Success, Protection, And A Life You Have Always Dreamed!18 January 2010 11:011 UTCmasteringmagickwitchcraft.com [Source type: General]

.The Biblical Witch of Endor is supposed to have performed it (1 Sam.^The so-called "witch" of Endor has frequently been quoted as a clear example of a Biblical witch.

Witches still go to cross-roads and to heathen burials with their delusive magic and call to the devil; and he comes to them in the likeness of the man that is buried there, as if he arise from death.^Hadst thou been secret, then had I been happy And had a hope, like man, of joys to come.

The Witch, by Thomas Middleton23 January 2010 20:34 UTCwww.tech.org [Source type: Original source]

^So if anyone has a problem with warlock, realize the intention here, note that it only says "often called" (so you can still call your male witches witches), and just deal with it.

Europe

Persecution of witches. Current scholarly estimates of the number of people executed for witchcraft vary between about 40,000 and 100,000.[25] The total number of witch trials in Europe which are known for certain to have ended in executions is around 12,000.[26]

.In Early Modern European tradition, witches have stereotypically, though not exclusively, been women.^Witches have stereotypically, though not exclusively, been women.

^Among the Catholics , Protestants , and secular leadership of the European Late Medieval / Early Modern period, fears regarding witchcraft rose to fever pitch, and sometimes led to large-scale witch-hunts .

^As a by-product of the witch hunts, the field of early medicine also transferred to exclusively male hands and the Western herbal tradition was largely destroyed.

The Horrors of The Church and its Holy Inquisition18 January 2010 11:011 UTCwww.bibliotecapleyades.net [Source type: Original source]

[8][27].European pagan belief in witchcraft was associated with the goddess Diana and dismissed as "diabolical fantasies" by medieval Christian authors.^Religious witchcraft is a Pagan mystery religion worshipping Goddess and Gods and venerating the Divine in nature.

The familiar witch of folklore and popular superstition is a combination of numerous influences. .The characterization of the witch as an evil magic user developed over time.^The characterisation of the witch as an evil magic user developed over time.

.Early converts to Christianity looked to Christian clergy to work magic more effectively than the old methods under Roman paganism, and Christianity provided a methodology involving saints and relics, similar to the gods and amulets of the Pagan world.^In place of the old Pagan magic methodology, the Church placed a Christian methodology involving saints and divine relics — a short step from the old Pagan techniques of numerous dieties, amulets and talismans.

As Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe, its concern with magic lessened.[29]

.The Protestant Christian explanation for witchcraft, such as those typified in the confessions of the Pendle Witches, commonly involves a diabolical pact or at least an appeal to the intervention of the spirits of evil.^Only Evil and Good witches can dabble in Spiritism.

.The witches or wizards engaged to such practices were alleged to reject Jesus and the sacraments; observe "the witches' sabbath" (performing infernal rites which often parodied the Mass or other sacraments of the Church); pay Divine honour to the Prince of Darkness; and, in return, receive from him preternatural powers.^It must be remembered that the Black Mass is performed at every witches Sabbath.

.It was a folkloric belief that a Devil's Mark, like the brand on cattle, was placed upon a witch's skin by the devil to signify that this pact had been made.^Marked: The witch has a deformity that clearly separates her from others of her race, such as green skin, a long warty nose, a large hump, or cloven feet.

.It was believed that a witch often joined a pact with the devil to gain powers to deal with infertility, immense fear for her children's well-being, or revenge against a lover.^Abuse of children in the Congo believed to be witches.

^Boston: Nichols and Noyes, 1869 [CSL call number F 67 .A42] Background of English seventeenth century belief in witches; also recounts the Salem trials.

Research Guide to Colonial Witchcraft Trial Materials at the Connecticut State Library18 January 2010 11:011 UTCwww.cslib.org [Source type: Academic]

.The emperor Charlemagne decreed that the burning of supposed witches was a pagan custom that would be punished by the death penalty.^On the other hand, a penalty which, in our days, would infer a degree of mocking infamy and ridicule, might then be invested with almost as stern a dignity as the punishment of death itself.

.In 820 the Bishop of Lyon and others repudiated the belief that witches could make bad weather, fly in the night, and change their shape.^And I am saying this knowing I could make a lot of money offering to cast spells for others.

How To Become A Witch23 January 2010 20:34 UTChubpages.com [Source type: Original source]

^How you could just accuse someone of being a witch and then just like that they were put on trial and killed.Just seems pathetic that it was this bad.

.This denial was accepted into Canon law until it was reversed in later centuries as the witch-hunt gained force.^Prophecy: Some witches uncover their third eye, gaining insight into truth and possibility.

.In 1307 the trial of the Knights Templar shows close parallels to accusations of witchcraft, maleficium, and sorcery and may have been the beginning of the great European witch-hunt.^I studied the witch trials and hunts throughout Europe and in the country and this article is a good start to the American trials.

[31].Other rulers such as King Coloman of Hungary declared that witch-hunts should cease because witches (more specifically, strigas) do not exist.^Marked: The witch has a deformity that clearly separates her from others of her race, such as green skin, a long warty nose, a large hump, or cloven feet.

^Because i have always wanted to become a witch and wannted powers to bring good to others!

How To Become A Witch23 January 2010 20:34 UTChubpages.com [Source type: Original source]

.The Church did not invent the idea of witchcraft as a potentially harmful force whose practitioners should be put to death.^The Church did not invent the idea of witchcraft as a potentially harmful force whose practitioners should be put to death.

.According to the scholar Max Dashu, the concept of medieval witchcraft contained many of its elements even before the emergence of Christianity.^According to the scholar Max Dashu, the concept of medieval witch contained many of its elements even before the emergence of Christianity.

.These can be found in Bacchanalias, especially in the time when they were led by priestess Paculla Annia (188–186).^In these peoples minds the right thing to do was destroy the ones they found to be guilty or most suspect and all would be right.It would answer their problems.

.In England, the provision of this curative magic was the job of a witch doctor, also known as a cunning man, white witch, or wiseman.^Witchcraft was practiced by "cunning folk," a term for practitioners of "white magic."

^Witchcraft: Encyclopedia II - European witchcraft - History of European witchcraft From the earliest recorded use of the term 'witch' to about the mid-19th century, witches were universally associated with evil, under the belief that the witch's magical powers were granted by Satan in exchange for the witch's soul.

^The term witch doctor, often attributed to African inyanga, has been misconstrued to mean "a healer who uses witchcraft" rather than its original meaning of "one who diagnoses and cures maladies caused by witches".

.Girdle-measurers specialised in diagnosing ailments caused by fairies, while magical cures for more mundane ailments, such as burns or toothache, could be had from charmers.^It would mean that I didn’t truly love her because I could cause such horrible suffering.

.Lancashire abounds with witch-doctors, a set of quacks, who pretend to cure diseases inflicted by the devil ...^Lancashire abounds with witch-doctors, a set of quacks, who pretend to cure diseases inflicted by the devil.

^The special meaning of the word among the witches is a "band" or "company", who were set apart for the practice of the rites of the religion and for the performance of magical ceremonies; in short, a kind of priesthood.

^As soon as the arrest of Gellie Duncan and Fian became known in Scotland, it was reported by everybody who pretended to be well-informed that these witches and their associates had, by the devil's means, raised the storms which had endangered the lives of the King and Queen.

.The witch-doctor alluded to is better known by the name of the cunning man, and has a large practice in the counties of Lincoln and Nottingham.^The witch-doctor alluded to is better known by the name of the cunning man, and has a large practice in the counties of Lincoln and Nottingham.

.Records from the Middle Ages, however, make it appear that it was, quite often, not entirely clear to the populace whether a given practitioner of magic was a witch or one of the cunning-folk.^Witchcraft was practiced by "cunning folk," a term for practitioners of "white magic."

.In addition, it appears that much of the populace was willing to approach either of these groups for healing magic and divination.^In addition, it appears that much of the populace was willing to approach either of these groups for healing magic and divination.

.When a person was known to be a witch, the populace would still seek to employ their healing skills; however, as was not the case with cunning-folk, members of the general population would also hire witches to curse their enemies.^When a person was known to be a witch, the populace would still seek to employ their healing skills; however, as was not the case with cunning-folk, members of the general population would also hire witches to curse their enemies.

^The important distinction is that there are records of the populace reporting alleged witches to the authorities as such, whereas cunning folk were not so incriminated; they were more commonly prosecuted for accusing the innocent or defrauding people of money.

.The important distinction is that there are records of the populace reporting alleged witches to the authorities as such, whereas cunning-folk were not so incriminated; they were more commonly prosecuted for accusing the innocent or defrauding people of money.^Such people are witches and man-eaters.

^The important distinction is that there are records of the populace reporting alleged witches to the authorities as such, whereas cunning folk were not so incriminated; they were more commonly prosecuted for accusing the innocent or defrauding people of money.

.The long-term result of this amalgamation of distinct types of magic-worker into one is the considerable present-day confusion as to what witches actually did, whether they harmed or healed, what role (if any) they had in the community, whether they can be identified with the "witches" of other cultures and even whether they existed as anything other than a projection.^We did another brew in one day event, late into the evening and the results are in.

^The long-term result of this amalgamation of distinct types of magic-worker into one is the considerable present-day confusion as to what witches actually did, whether they harmed or healed, what role (if any) they had in the community, whether they can be identified with the "witches" of other cultures and even whether they existed as anything other than a projection.

^Witches also have a responsibility in how they present themselves to others.

A Witch's Cauldron - Being A Witch23 January 2010 20:34 UTCwww.pathcom.com [Source type: Original source]

.Present-day beliefs about the witches of history attribute to them elements of the folklore witch, the charmer, the cunning man or wise woman, the diviner and the astrologer.^Remember Christianity has a history of murdering innocent people on religious fervor, no different that what has occurred in present day America with Islam.

.Powers typically attributed to European witches include turning food poisonous or inedible, flying on broomsticks or pitchforks, casting spells, cursing people, making livestock ill and crops fail, and creating fear and local chaos.^Powers typically attributed to European witches include turning food poisonous or inedible, flying on broomsticks, casting spells, and creating fear and local chaos.

^Powers typically attributed to European witches include turning food poisonous or inedible, flying on broomsticks or pitchforks, casting spells, cursing people, making livestock ill and crops fail, and creating fear and local chaos.

.The Russian word for witch is ведьма (ved'ma, literally "the one who knows", from Old Slavic вѣдъ "to know").^The Russian word for witch, ведьма (ved'ma), shows exactly that (the literal translation means "The one who knows").

.The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex Counties of colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693. Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, with even more accused who were not formally pursued by the authorities.^The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693.

.Despite being generally known as the "Salem" witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in a variety of towns across the province: Salem Village, Ipswich, Andover, as well as Salem Town, Massachusetts.^The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693.

^The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in Essex , Suffolk , and Middlesex Counties of colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693.

^The four sessions of the Superior Court of Judicature in 1693, held in Salem Town, but also in Ipswich, Boston, and Charlestown, produced only three convictions in the thirty-one witchcraft trials it conducted.

.The four sessions of the Superior Court of Judicature in 1693, held in Salem Town, but also in Ipswich, Boston, and Charlestown, produced only three convictions in the thirty-one witchcraft trials it conducted.^No one died as a convicted witch in America again after the Salem witch trials.

Salem Witchcraft: the Events and Causes of the Salem Witch Trials18 January 2010 11:011 UTCwww.salemwitchtrials.com [Source type: Original source]

^The best-known trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town.

.Both in ancient Egypt and in Babylonia it played a conspicuous part, as existing records plainly show.^Both ethics and morals can develop without religious input, although religion does tend to play a part if the society that is developing has a strong religious beliefs.

If a man has put a spell upon another man and it is not justified, he upon whom the spell is laid shall go to the holy river; into the holy river shall he plunge.^Among many morals which press upon us from the poor minister's miserable experience, we put only this into a sentence:--"Be true!

The Scarlet Letter, Part 117 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.washburn.edu [Source type: Original source]

.If the holy river declares him innocent and he remains unharmed the man who laid the spell shall be put to death.^If the holy river overcome him and he is drowned, the man who put the spell upon him shall take possession of his house.

.He that plunged into the river shall take possession of the house of him who laid the spell upon him.^Becoming a constant companion to the young minister, he eventually moves into the same house with him.

Hebrew Bible

In the Holy Scripture references to sorcery are frequent, and the strong condemnations of such practices found there do not seem to be based so much upon the supposition of fraud as upon the abomination of the magic in itself.^Had he once found power to smile, and wear a face of gaiety, there would have been no such man!

.The King James Bible uses the words "witch", "witchcraft", and "witchcrafts",[36] wherever the masoretic text, from which it is translated, has כשף (kashaph or kesheph) and קסם (qesem), and the Septuagint has φαρμακεια (pharmakeia); similarly in the New Testament it uses 'witch', 'witchcraft', and 'witchcrafts' to translate the φαρμακεια (pharmakeia) of the underlying Greek text.^Some of these disclosures were too much even for the abundant faith of King James, and he more than once exclaimed, that the witches were like their master, "extreme lyars."

^On the slave bit, I know the word is in our english translation but there was no word for slavery in the Hebrew/Greek text so english translators use slave which is not equal to the type of chatteled slavery we know today.

.However, Kashaph more literally means either mutterer (from a single root) or herb user (as a compound word formed from the roots kash, meaning herb, and hapaleh, meaning using); the equivalent pharmakeia of the Septuagint means poison.^The word comes from an Arabic root meaning to obscure or to eclipse, used of the sun or moon.

.As such a closer translation would be potion user (additionally, pharmakeia implies further malevolent intent), or more generally one who uses magic to harm others, rather than a very general term like witch.^Once having abandoned their own culture by becoming American, Americans cease to understand why others will die rather than let their culture be stripped from them.

And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee.^Two days and two nights it went on!

^They said that was the Black Man's mark on thee, And that it glows like fire in the night, Out in the forest, when thou meet'st with him.

The Scarlet Letter, Part 217 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.washburn.edu [Source type: Original source]

.And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?^As thou hast said, this is the better life!

The Scarlet Letter, Part 217 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.washburn.edu [Source type: Original source]

^Do you see how my positive statements about something that I like are being used as jumping-off points for the negativity of haters, or not?

Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.aintitcool.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

^They said that was the Black Man's mark on thee, And that it glows like fire in the night, Out in the forest, when thou meet'st with him.

The Scarlet Letter, Part 217 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.washburn.edu [Source type: Original source]

The Hebrew verb Hichrit (הכרית) translated in the King James as cut off, can also be translated as excommunicate, or as kill wholesale or exterminate. .Note that the Hebrew word ob, translated as familiar spirit in the above quotation, has a different meaning than the usual English sense of the phrase; namely, it refers to a spirit that the woman is familiar with, rather than to a spirit which physically manifests itself in the shape of an animal.^On the slave bit, I know the word is in our english translation but there was no word for slavery in the Hebrew/Greek text so english translators use slave which is not equal to the type of chatteled slavery we know today.

New Testament

.The New Testament condemns the practice as an abomination, just as the Old Testament had (Galatians 5:20, compared with Revelation 21:8; 22:15; and Acts 8:9; 13:6), though the overall topic of Biblical law in Christianity is still disputed.^I believe the GUIDELINES set forth through the 10 commandments in the Old Testament and 2 commandments of the New Testament.

The word in most New Testament translations is "sorcerer"/"sorcery" rather than "witch"/"witchcraft".

Judaism

.Jewish law views the practice of witchcraft as being laden with idolatry and/or necromancy; both being serious theological and practical offenses in Judaism.^Laws of Tanzania), because it involved the practice of witchcraft.

.According to Traditional Judaism, it is acknowledged that while magic exists, it is forbidden to practice it on the basis that it usually involves the worship of other gods.^The old Testament books are certain accounts by prophets of things that happened to certain them or others, at a time when they were able to interact on a one on one basis with God.

^Chaos magic isn't Catastrophy magic, but they do get confused with each other a lot, that's why it was a big debate between me and some others when Strange told the Avengers that Chaos magic doesn't exist.

.Rabbis of the Talmud also condemned magic when it produced something other than illusion, giving the example of two men who use magic to pick cucumbers (Sanhedrin 67a).^Rabbis of the Talmud also condemned magic when it produced something other than illusion, giving the example of two men who use magic to pick cucumbers (Sanhedrin 67a).

^Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn From the mischief of created things; From the mischief of Darkness as it overspreads; From the mischief of those who practise secret arts; And from the mischief of the envious one as he practises envy.

.For instance, Rabbah created a person and sent him to Rabbi Zera, and Rabbi Hanina and Rabbi Oshaia studied every Sabbath evening together and created a small calf to eat (Sanhedrin 65b).^For instance, Rabbah created a person and sent him to Rabbi Zera, and Rabbi Hanina and Rabbi Oshaia studied every Sabbath evening together and created a small calf to eat (Sanhedrin 65b).

.In these cases, the "magic" was seen more as divine miracles (i.e., coming from God rather than pagan gods) than as witchcraft.^Nevertheless, in the remarkable providence of God, these creatures may become His instruments to chasten and discipline God's erring subjects and therefore in an ultimate sense fulfill the divine will."

.Judaism does make it clear that Jews shall not try to learn about the ways of witches (Deuteronomy/Devarim 18: 9–10) and that witches are to be put to death.^I've read one reason for the accusations was greed not witch craft, some owned large plots of land making a few jealous, does this have any validity?

.The best known reference to magic in Islam is the SurahAl-Falaq (meaning dawn or daybreak), which is known as a prayer to Allah to ward off black magic.^Black Magic: Also known as the Dark Art, Bone Magic, and Voodoo, Black Magic is a vile branch of witchcraft devoted to death and pain.

.Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn From the mischief of created things; From the mischief of Darkness as it overspreads; From the mischief of those who practise secret arts; And from the mischief of the envious one as he practises envy.^The man who practices magic uses an evil power, to undermine the righteous by crooked ways and secret arts.

Solomon disbelieved not; but the devils disbelieved, teaching mankind sorcery and that which was revealed to the two angels in Babel, Harut and Marut ... .And surely they do know that he who trafficketh therein will have no (happy) portion in the Hereafter; and surely evil is the price for which they sell their souls, if they but knew.^And surely they do know that he who trafficketh therein will have no (happy) portion in the Hereafter; and surely evil is the price for which they sell their souls, if they but knew.

.However, whereas performing miracles in Islamic thought and belief is reserved for only Messengers and Prophets; supernatural acts are also believed to be performed by Awliyaa – the spiritually accomplished.^These awaken, by turns, pity, indignation, disgust, and dread,--dread at the thought of what the human mind may be brought to believe not only probable, but proven.

.Disbelief in the miracles of the Prophets is considered an act of disbelief; belief in the miracles of any given pious individual is not.^Disbelief in the miracles of the Prophets is considered an act of disbelief; belief in the miracles of any given pious individual is not.

^Qur'an 2:102) However, whereas performing miracles in Islamic thought and belief is reserved for only Messengers and Prophets; supernatural acts are also believed to be performed by Awliyaa - the spiritually accomplished.

.Neither are regarded as magic, but as signs of Allah at the hands of those close to Him that occur by His will and His alone.^Neither are regarded as magic, but as signs of Allah at the hands of those close to Him that occur by His will and His alone.

.Some Muslim practitioners believe that they may seek the help of the Jinn (singular—jinni) in magic.^Power: Enchanted Weapon: The witch may enchant a single broom to act as a +1 magical weapon (that they are automatically proficient with) that does 1d3 bludgeoning damage.

Still, the practice of seeking help to the Jinn is prohibited and regarded the same as seeking help to a devil.

The belief in jinn is part of the Muslim faith. .Imam Muslim narrated the Prophet said: "Allah created the angels from light, created the jinn from the pure flame of fire, and Adam from that which was described to you (i.e., the clay.^She got a call after the fire, and a person said "see what you get hanging a picture of Jesus in your store," she said.

And persons from among men used to seek refuge with persons from among the jinn, so they increased them in evil doing.

—(The Holy Qur'an) (72:6)

.To cast off the jinn from the body of the possessed, the "ruqya," which is from the Prophet's sunnah is used.^Alone in the world, cast off by it, and with this sole treasure to keep her heart alive, she felt that she possessed indefeasible rights against the world, and was ready to defend them to the death.

.The ruqya contains verses of the Qur'an as well as prayers which are specifically targeted against demons.^The ruqya contains verses of the Qur'an as well as prayers which are specifically targeted against demons.

The knowledge of which verses of the Qur'an to use in what way is what is considered "magic knowledge".

.There is a Hadeeth recorded by Al-Bukhari which narrates that one who has eaten seven dates in the morning will not be adversely affected by magic in the course of that day.^A man who has sex with a menstruating woman “shall be unclean seven days.” 15:24 .

.Students of the history of religion have linked several magical practises in Islam with pre-islamic Turkish and East African customs.^Students of the history of religion have linked several magical practises in Islam with pre-islamic Turkish and East African customs.

.In 2006 Fawza Falih Muhammad Ali, a citizen of Saudi Arabia, was condemned to death for practicing witchcraft.^Fourteen persons, condemned to death for witchcraft, appealed against the judgment to the Parliament of Paris, which for political reasons had been exiled to Tours.

India

.Belief in the supernatural is strong in certain parts of India, and lynchings for witchcraft are reported in the press from time to time.^Both ethics and morals can develop without religious input, although religion does tend to play a part if the society that is developing has a strong religious beliefs.

[41].It is estimated that 750 people have been killed in witch-hunts in the states of Assam and West Bengal since 2003.[42] More than 100 women are tortured, paraded naked, or harassed in the state of Chhattisgarh annually, officials said.^Additionally, if a witch lingers in a superstitious or culturally unsophisticated community for more than a day, she runs the risk of facing a mob of hostile citizens bent on running her out of town, imprisoning her, torturing her, or executing her.

^Still dangerous The image of witchcraft in the popular mindset has come a long way since the time of the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem witch trials, when thousands of women were persecuted, prosecuted, tortured and even burned for their beliefs.

[43] A social activist in the region said the reported cases were only the tip of the iceberg.[44]

Japan

.In Japanese folklore the witch can commonly be separated into two categories: those who employ snakes as familiars, and those who employ foxes.^To these Christina Larner adds a fourth category: those reputed to be witches and surrounded with an aura of witch-beliefs.

.Differing regional beliefs set those who use foxes into two separate types: the kitsune-mochi, and the tsukimono-suji.^Especially in two different mediums with two separate sets of production conditions.

Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.aintitcool.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]

.The first of these, the kitsune-mochi, is a solitary figure who gains his fox familiar by bribing it with its favourite foods.^Wiccans, those who formally practice witchcraft, gained legal protection under the First Amendment for their nature-based religion in 1985.

The kitsune-mochi then strikes up a deal with the fox, typically promising food and daily care in return for the fox's magical services. The fox of Japanese folklore is a powerful trickster in and of itself, imbued with powers of shape changing, possession, and illusion. .These creatures can be either nefarious; disguising themselves as women in order to trap men, or they can be benign forces as in the story of 'The Grateful foxes'.[46] However, once a fox enters the employ of a human it almost exclusively becomes a force of evil to be feared.^Even the Gospels themselves show that women moved freely out in public and were in no way separated from men socially.

.The fox can turn invisible and be set out to find any secrets its master desires and it still retains its many powers of illusion which its master will often put to use in order to trick and deceive his enemies.^I got your manual and I used it, and it turned out!

^The easy checklist I use to find out why a spell failed (and cast it again to make sure it works) See Unit 3, Page 45 .

Mastering The Magick Of Witchcraft: The Ancient Secrets Of Magick For Love, Success, Protection, And A Life You Have Always Dreamed!18 January 2010 11:011 UTCmasteringmagickwitchcraft.com [Source type: General]

.The most feared power the kitsuni-mochi possess is the ability to command his fox to possess other humans.^Power: The witch gains low-light vision; if she already possesses this ability, she can now see three times as far (instead of twice as far) as a creature without it.

^Unwholesome Aura: The witch's magical powers and extraplanar contact have caused her to be pervaded with what others will perceive as negative energy and will cause those of a superstitious bent to fear and hate her.

.By far the most commonly reported cases of Fox Employment in modern Japan are enacted bytsukimono-suji families, or "hereditary witches".[47] The Tsukimono-suji is traditionally a family who is reported to have foxes under their employ.^They learned about the animals who are traditionally pets of witches and warlocks and there was even time for a disco at the end of the day.

^It was my understanding, too, that most who were sent to prison never made it out due to starvation and illness, and that their families ended up in ruin as well...as far as the "compensation" is concerned, for most of the victims and their families, it was much too late.

.These foxes serve the family and are passed down through the generations, typically through the female line.^I dug through every piece of Magickal knowledge handed down from my family...

Mastering The Magick Of Witchcraft: The Ancient Secrets Of Magick For Love, Success, Protection, And A Life You Have Always Dreamed!18 January 2010 11:011 UTCmasteringmagickwitchcraft.com [Source type: General]

^The ridiculousness of it all is a bit overwhelming so I find it sad that so many families are living through the depression and sadness caused by these beliefs.

.tsukimono-suji foxes are able to supply much in the way of the same mystical aide that the foxes under the employ of a kitsune-mochi can provide its more solitary master with.^Some of these disclosures were too much even for the abundant faith of King James, and he more than once exclaimed, that the witches were like their master, "extreme lyars."

.In addition to these powers, if the foxes are kept happy and well taken care of, they will bring great fortune and prosperity to the Tsukimono-suji house.^Warning: some of these spells are highly controversial (because they are so effective in bringing love) and should only be used in desperate circumstances.

Mastering The Magick Of Witchcraft: The Ancient Secrets Of Magick For Love, Success, Protection, And A Life You Have Always Dreamed!18 January 2010 11:011 UTCmasteringmagickwitchcraft.com [Source type: General]

^I am not saying that these woman were witches as in following a religious bend, but they probably were healers in their village and had much to much "power" for people to be comfortable with them.

.However, the aid in which these foxes give is often overshadowed by the social and mystical implications of being a member of such a family.^It would be greatly for the public behoof, if we women, being of mature age and church-members in good repute, should have the handling of such malefactresses as this Hester Prynne.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne 17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.gutenberg.org [Source type: Original source]

^The astonishing similarity of the confessions of all the persons implicated in these proceedings has often been remarked.

In many villages, the status of local families as tsukimono-suji is often common, everyday knowledge. Such families are respected and feared, but are also openly shunned. Due to its hereditary nature, the status of being Tsukimono-suji is considered contagious. .Because of this, it is often impossible for members of such a family to sell land or other properties, due to fear that the possession of such items will cause foxes to inundate ones own home.^I've read one reason for the accusations was greed not witch craft, some owned large plots of land making a few jealous, does this have any validity?

.In addition to this, because the foxes are believed to be passed down through the female line, it is often nearly impossible for women of such families to find a husband whose family will agree to have him married to a tsukimono-suji family.^Any man who forces his wife to submit isn’t being a true Christian, because Christ does not force people to believe in him.

^Had he once found power to smile, and wear a face of gayety, there would have been no such man!

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne 17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.gutenberg.org [Source type: Original source]

Tocharians

.An expedition sent to what is now the Xinjiang region of western China by the PBS documentary series Nova found a fully clothed female Tocharian mummy wearing a black conical hat of the type now associated with witches in Europe in the storage area of a small local museum, indicative of an Indo-European priestess.^PBS did a series also where the ergot theory was more fully explained for those of us unfamiliar with the 1976 book.

^Although we witches are usually associated with our Black Cats, it is often not appreciated that we are soft on all animals and are usually surrounded by a veritable menagerie in addition to our feline helpers.

Oceania

.A local newspaper informed that more than 50 people were killed in two Highlands provinces of Papua New Guinea in 2008 for allegedly practicing witchcraft.^Isaac claims to be more powerful than his father and reveals that he is the one who killed his mother and sister.

[50].African Christians typically accept Christian dogma as do their counterparts in Latin America and Asia.^African Christians typically accept Christian dogma as do their counterparts in Latin America and Asia.

.The term witch doctor, often attributed to Zulu inyanga, has been misconstrued to mean "a healer who uses witchcraft" rather than its original meaning of "one who diagnoses and cures maladies caused by witches". Combining Roman Catholic beliefs and practices and traditional West African religious beliefs and practices, particularly West African Vodun, are several syncretic religions in the Americas, including Vodou, Obeah, Candomblé, Quimbanda and Santería.^There were several foolscap sheets, containing many particulars respecting the life and conversation of one Hester Prynne, who appeared to have been rather a noteworthy personage in the view of our ancestors.

^An example would be those people of certain Celtic traditions who instead use Earth, Sky, and Water, and preferably worship on a cliffside near the ocean where the three worlds of these elements meet together as one.

.The thakathi is usually improperly translated into English as "witch", and is a spiteful person who operates in secret to harm others.^Furthermore, the Word Wicca comes from the English Word "Wicce" which was tranformed into Witch.

.The sangoma is a diviner, somewhere on a par with a fortune teller, and is employed in detecting illness, predicting a person's future (or advising them on which path to take), or identifying the guilty party in a crime.^"All paths are divine," he said, "and every person has an individual path to follow, but we all travel it together."

.The inyanga is often translated as "witch doctor" (though many Southern Africans resent this implication, as it perpetuates the mistaken belief that a "witch doctor" is in some sense a practitioner of malicious magic).^The inyanga is often translated as "witch doctor" (though many Southern Africans resent this implication, as it perpetuates the mistaken belief that a "witch doctor" is in some sense a practitioner of witchcraft).

^The term witch doctor, often attributed to African inyanga, has been misconstrued to mean "a healer who uses witchcraft" rather than its original meaning of "one who diagnoses and cures maladies caused by witches".

.The inyanga's job is to heal illness and injury and provide customers with magical items for everyday use.^The inyanga 's job is to heal illness and injury and provide customers with magical items for everyday use.

.Of these three categories the thakatha is almost exclusively female, the sangoma is usually female, and the inyanga is almost exclusively male.^Of these three categories the thakatha is almost exclusively female, the sangoma is usually female, and the inyanga is almost exclusively male.

.In some Central African areas, malicious magic users are believed by locals to be the source of terminal illness such as AIDS and cancer.^Eliminate the next couple of ninjas that appear with some easy combos and work your way down to the Central Bridge area to encounter a new enemy.

.In such cases, various methods are used to rid the person from the bewitching spirit, occasionally Physical abuse and Psychological abuse.^The problem in such a situation isn’t with the Bible but with the person incorrectly using it.

.Children may be accused of being witches, for example a young niece may be blamed for the illness of a relative.^Children may be accused of being witches, for example a young niece may be blamed for the illness of a relative.

.Most of these cases of abuse go unreported since the members of the society that witness such abuse are too afraid of being accused of being accomplices.^It was extremely dangerous to be accused of being a "witch", since a common punishment was to be burnt at the stake.

.As of 2006, between 25,000 and 50,000 children in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, had been accused of witchcraft and thrown out of their homes.^Thank you for trying your "Mastering The Magick of Witchcraft" Home Academy In-A-Box today, and I can't wait to send it out to you immediately.

Mastering The Magick Of Witchcraft: The Ancient Secrets Of Magick For Love, Success, Protection, And A Life You Have Always Dreamed!18 January 2010 11:011 UTCmasteringmagickwitchcraft.com [Source type: General]

^P.P.P.P.S. Are you worried that someone you live with will not agree with your choice to try out my "Mastering The Magick of Witchcraft" Home Academy?

Mastering The Magick Of Witchcraft: The Ancient Secrets Of Magick For Love, Success, Protection, And A Life You Have Always Dreamed!18 January 2010 11:011 UTCmasteringmagickwitchcraft.com [Source type: General]

^A dispute arose in the little village of Glen, in Leicestershire, between two old women, each of whom vehemently accused the other of witchcraft.

[51].On April, 2008, Kinshasa, the police arrested 14 suspected victims (of penis snatching) and sorcerers accused of using black magic or witchcraft to steal (make disappear) or shrink men's penises to extort cash for cure, amid a wave of panic.^Black Magic: Also known as the Dark Art, Bone Magic, and Voodoo, Black Magic is a vile branch of witchcraft devoted to death and pain.

^Suspicion of witchcraft was justified by general report, by the ill-looks of the suspected, by being silent when accused, by her mothers having been a witch, by flight, by exclaiming when arrested, I am lost!

[52].Arrests were made in an effort to avoid bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade ago, when 12 alleged penis snatchers were beaten to death by mobs.^Arrests were made in an effort to avoid bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade ago, when 12 alleged penis snatchers were beaten to death by mobs.

^The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in Essex , Suffolk , and Middlesex Counties of colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693.

[54].In Tanzania in 2008, President Kikwete publicly condemned witchdoctors for killing albinos for their body parts which are thought to bring good luck.^Bring good luck to you and everyone around you , and create a stream of miracles in your life .

Mastering The Magick Of Witchcraft: The Ancient Secrets Of Magick For Love, Success, Protection, And A Life You Have Always Dreamed!18 January 2010 11:011 UTCmasteringmagickwitchcraft.com [Source type: General]

^How to cast some beginner luck spells, step-by-step (there are 2 spells that will not only bring you good luck, but steer you away from bad luck!

Mastering The Magick Of Witchcraft: The Ancient Secrets Of Magick For Love, Success, Protection, And A Life You Have Always Dreamed!18 January 2010 11:011 UTCmasteringmagickwitchcraft.com [Source type: General]

^The religous leaders thought they were doing good to kill everyone, but they were actually doing what Satan was trying to accomplish.

.25 albinos have been murdered since March 2007.[55] In the Meatu district of Tanzania, half of all murders are “witch-killings”.^Reply Janet Greene March 17, 2009 at 12:13 pm Grass – Actually, in the OT God COMMANDS murder, rape, killing of babies.

^Poverty and desperation are the basic causes,” said Mike Mwamba, the director of a center for abandoned children in Gombe, a busy commercial section of Kinshasa where hundreds of street kids prowl about the main marketplace.

.In Gambia, about 1,000 people accused of being witches were locked in detention centers in March 2009 and forced to drink a dangerous hallucinogenic potion, human rights organization Amnesty International said.^The coven is said to be the nucleus of the witches organization.

Complementary remarks about witchcraft by a native Congolese initiate : "From witchcraft ... may be developed the remedy (kimbuki) that will do most to raise up our country."[57] "Witchcraft ... deserves respect ... it can embellish or redeem (ketula evo vuukisa)."[58] "The ancestors were equipped with the protective witchcraft of the clan (kindoki kiandundila kanda). ... .They could also gather the power of animals into their hands ...^They probably fancied that my sole object—and, indeed, the sole object for which a sane man could ever put himself into voluntary motion—was, to get an appetite for dinner.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne 17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.gutenberg.org [Source type: Original source]

^Had she gathered pearls, and diamonds, and rubies, in the wood, they could not have become her better.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne 17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.gutenberg.org [Source type: Original source]

^They could not imagine why, if he had been an ox, modern men could not become wolves, by Divine permission and the power of the devil.

whenever they needed. ... .If we could make use of these kinds of witchcraft, our country would rapidly progress in knowledge of every kind."^So… in today’s world, if someone still uses that scripture to claim women need to “be silent in church”, the person making that false application of the text would be ignorant.

^There are a few secrets to making them work - but once I found out what they were, all of our money worries "evaporated" rapidly - for good !

Mastering The Magick Of Witchcraft: The Ancient Secrets Of Magick For Love, Success, Protection, And A Life You Have Always Dreamed!18 January 2010 11:011 UTCmasteringmagickwitchcraft.com [Source type: General]

^But, to all these shadowy beings, so long our near acquaintances,—as well Roger Chillingworth as his companions,—we would fain be merciful.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne 17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.gutenberg.org [Source type: Original source]

[59]."You witches (zindoki) too, bring your science into the light to be written down so that ...^Jesus Christ will come and live in your heart (literally) if you invite Him into your heart .

^(I walk you through each step of bringing love into your life using this unique kind of Love Magick) - See Unit 4, Page 23 .

Mastering The Magick Of Witchcraft: The Ancient Secrets Of Magick For Love, Success, Protection, And A Life You Have Always Dreamed!18 January 2010 11:011 UTCmasteringmagickwitchcraft.com [Source type: General]

^But hey, fight on and see if you can bring down the woman-bashers from the inside.

.Among the Mende (of Sierra Leone), trial and conviction for witchcraft has a beneficial effect for those convicted.^Eventually, the colony admitted the trials were a mistake and compensated the families of those convicted.

"The witchfinder had warned the whole village to ensure the relative prosperity of the accused and sentenced ... old people. ... Six months later all of the people ... accused, were secure, well-fed and arguably happier than at any [previous] time; they had hardly to beckon and people would come with food or whatever was needful. ... .Instead of such old and widowed people being left helpless or (as in Western society) institutionalized in old people’s homes, these were reintegrated into society and left secure in their old age ...^I think that instead of the accusing the people of being whitches the accuse them of being a tad crazy!

. ... .Old people are 'suitable' candidates for this kind of accusation in the sense that they are isolated and vulnerable, and they are 'suitable' candidates for 'social security' for precisely the same reasons."^The watchers are very solemn, which is suitable for people for whom religion and law mean practically the same thing.

.Christian pastors in Nigeria have been involved in the torturing and killing of children accused of witchcraft.^A woman lay in the dungeon of the city accused of witchcraft, and the Duke, having given previous instructions to the officiating torturers, went with the two Jesuits to hear her confession.

[62][63] Over the past decade, over 1000 children have been murdered with some being set on fire.[64].Church pastors, in an effort to distinguish from the competition, establish their credentials by accusing children of witchcraft.^Accused of witchcraft, children kicked to the streets in Congo .

Neopaganism

.Modern practices identified by their practitioners as "witchcraft" have arisen in the twentieth century which may be broadly subsumed under the heading of Neopaganism.^Modern practices identified by their practitioners as "witchcraft" have arisen in the twentieth century which may be broadly subsumed under the heading of Neopaganism .

^From the mid 20th century on, a growing number of people have come to identify with the term "witch", many seeing witchcraft as a religion with possible pre-Christian roots (see below, under Neopaganism ).

.However, as forms of Neopaganism can be quite different and have very different origins, these representations can vary considerably despite the shared name.^However, as forms of Neopaganism can be quite different and have very different origins, these representations can vary considerably despite the shared name.

^But, I would be sad to see someone reject the Christian faith, not understanding that many committed Christians who take Scripture seriously have a very different take on alot of these issues people are sharing here.

^You see in fact every culture through the ages of man, have had some form of witchcraft - they may call it a different name.

How To Become A Witch23 January 2010 20:34 UTChubpages.com [Source type: Original source]

.Contemporary witchcraft often involves the use of divination, magic, and working with the classical elements and unseen forces such as spirits and the forces of nature.^Pact: The witch is schooled in magic by a more powerful being, such as a celestial, dragon, fiend, or spirit of the land – but at a price.

^If a person knocks on wood he is symbolically invoking the assistance or protective influence of a magic wand, the oldest mystic instrument used by man in an effort to bend the forces of nature to his will.

.The practice of natural medicine, folk medicine, and spiritual healing is also common, as are alternative medical and New Age healing practices.^I fought hard and wouldn't give up...I had the support of a few very wise souls who helped me to use many natural methods and medicines, to help me to heal.

.Some schools of modern witchcraft, such as traditional forms of Wicca, are secretive and operate as initiatorysecret societies.^While there are certain things I find deplorable in the Bible, such as genocide and other forms of violence, there is some good in it.

.There have been a number of pagan practitioners such as Paul Huson[68] claiming inheritance to non-Gardnerian traditions as well.^However, I rejected Christianity and the Bible for purely intellectual reasons — that is, because it wasn’t true and there is no evidence for any of the Bible’s supernatural claims (and for many of it’s non-supernatural historical claims).

.More recently a movement to recreate pre-Christian traditions has taken shape in polytheistic reconstructionism, including such practices as Divination, Seid and various forms of Shamanism.^In Puritan tradition, children were given names that expressed the various Christian virtues to which people aspired.

Wicca

.During the 20th century interest in witchcraft in English-speaking and European countries began to increase, inspired particularly by Margaret Murray's theory of a pan-European witch-cult originally published in 1921, since discredited by further careful historical research.^Those who maintain that European witchcraft was a cult are not sure whether it was the remains of Druidic religion or of some more ancient fertility cult.

[70].Interest was intensified, however, by Gerald Gardner's claim in 1954 in Witchcraft Today that a form of witchcraft still existed in England.^So… in today’s world, if someone still uses that scripture to claim women need to “be silent in church”, the person making that false application of the text would be ignorant.

The truth of Gardner's claim is now disputed too, with different historians offering evidence for[71][72] or against[73][74][75] the religion's existence prior to Gardner.

.The Wicca that Gardner initially taught was a witchcraft religion having a lot in common with Margaret Murray's hypothetically posited cult of the 1920s.^Wicca and Witchcraft are two seperate religions.

[76].Indeed Murray wrote an introduction to Gardner's Witchcraft Today, in effect putting her stamp of approval on it.^She was put to the torture again, and her fortitude giving way under the extremity of her anguish, she confessed that she was indeed a witch -- that she had sold her soul to the devil, and effected all her cures by his aid.

Secret History of Modern Witchcraft18 January 2010 11:011 UTCdraeconin.com [Source type: Original source]

.Wicca is now practised as a religion of an initiatorysecret society nature with positive ethical principles, organised into autonomous covens and led by a High Priesthood.^But two members of a coven that operates in this region say that Wicca, the religion of witches, is not what most people think it is.

.There is also a large "Eclectic Wiccan" movement of individuals and groups who share key Wiccan beliefs but have no initiatory connection or affiliation with traditional Wicca.^And there are many wiccans who are not witches.

How To Become A Witch23 January 2010 20:34 UTChubpages.com [Source type: Original source]

.Wiccan writings and ritual show borrowings from a number of sources including 19th and 20th-century ceremonial magic, the medieval grimoire known as the Key of Solomon, Aleister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis and pre-Christian religions.^The special meaning of the word among the witches is a "band" or "company", who were set apart for the practice of the rites of the religion and for the performance of magical ceremonies; in short, a kind of priesthood.

^Salem Struggling Several centuries ago, many practicing Christians, and those of other religions, had a strong belief that the Devil could give certain people known as witches the power to harm others in return for their loyalty.

.Since Gardner's death in 1964 the Wicca that he claimed he was initiated into has attracted many initiates, becoming the largest of the various witchcraft traditions in the Western world, and has influenced other Neopagan and occult movements.^Members of some religions have applied the term witchcraft in a pejorative sense to refer to all magical or ritual practices other than those sanctioned by their own doctrines - although this has become less common, at least in the Western world.

^The hexagram has remained in use with in the occult and is prominent in the rituals and worship of Druids, Freemasons, Astrology, New Age, Wicca (tattooed on the abdomens or palms of initiates) and a long list of other satanic cults.

Stregheria

.Stregheria is an Italian witchcraft religion popularised in the 1980s by Raven Grimassi, who claims that it evolved within the ancient Etruscan religion of Italian peasants who worked under the Catholic upper classes.^Those who maintain that European witchcraft was a cult are not sure whether it was the remains of Druidic religion or of some more ancient fertility cult.

.Leland's account depicts the followers of Italian witchcraft as worshipping the Goddess Diana, along with her brother Dianus/Lucifer, and their daughter Aradia (by divine acceptance and infusion of that which is Diana, as Diana is supposed to be perpetually virginal).^Religious witchcraft is a Pagan mystery religion worshipping Goddess and Gods and venerating the Divine in nature.

.Leland's witches do not see Lucifer as the evil Satan of Christian myth, but a benevolent god of the Sun and Moon.^He is Eternally Contrary to God's Principles and God's Will "Satan opposes all that is good and promotes all that is evil.

^The modern Witch of today does not even believe in "Evil" or "Satan" in any form!

Mastering The Magick Of Witchcraft: The Ancient Secrets Of Magick For Love, Success, Protection, And A Life You Have Always Dreamed!18 January 2010 11:011 UTCmasteringmagickwitchcraft.com [Source type: General]

^Most people think witches are Satanic — we are not, that is a Christian concept.

.The ritual format of contemporary Stregheria is roughly similar to that of other Neo-Pagan witchcraft religions such as Wicca.^Religious witchcraft is a Pagan mystery religion worshipping Goddess and Gods and venerating the Divine in nature.

.Most followers celebrate a series of eight festivals equivalent to the Wiccan Wheel of the Year, though others follow the ancient Roman festivals.^He said he "came out of the broom closet" 11 years ago to find that most of his friends were Wiccan, too.

^Most Pagans are eco-friendly, seeking to live in a way that minimises harm to the natural environment and almost all Pagans celebrate a cycle of eight festivals, which are spaced every six or seven weeks through the year.

.It is an ecstatic tradition with strong emphasis is placed on sensual experience and awareness, including sexual mysticism, which is not limited to heterosexual expression.^It is an ecstatic tradition with strong emphasis is placed on sensual experience and awareness, including sexual mysticism, which is not limited to heterosexual expression.

^Among the many characteristics that distinguish Y Dynion Mwyn from other traditions of Witchcraft are: a strong emphasis on the shamanic trance experience, through drumming, meditation, and sensual awareness; the acknowledgment of an ecstatic journey to Faerieland through the art of Shape-Shifting; a path of sexual mysticism; the use of the Welsh language, bardic poetry and liturgical material in ritual and worship; acknowledgment of Welsh deities and archetypes specific to the Tradition;.

.Most practitioners worship three main deities; the Star Goddess, and two divine twins, one of whom is the blue God.^Most practitioners worship three main deities; the Star Goddess, and two divine twins, one of whom is the blue God.

^I was most impressed with the first two or three of his articles I saw, particularly the "Acid Test Failed" and the "Rape of Dulcinea," plus another one whose title I forgot, maybe it was "Winter Fool, Summer Fool" or something like that.

.They believe that there are three parts to the human soul, a belief taken from the Hawaiian religion of Huna as described by Max Freedom Long.^Prithee look but in the lover's almanac: when he has been but three days absent, "O," says he, "I have not seen my love these seven years:" there's a long cut!

^ ab Gibbons, Jenny (1998) "Recent Developments in the Study of the Great European Witch Hunt" in The Pomegranate #5, Lammas 1998.

^ Barstow, Anne Llewellyn (1994) Witchcraze: A New History of the European Witch Hunts San Francisco:Pandora. p. 23.

^ For a book-length treatment, see Lara Apps and Andrew Gow, Male Witches in Early Modern Europe, Manchester University Press (2003), ISBN 0719057094. Conversely, for repeated use of the term "warlock" to refer to a male witch see Chambers, Robert, Domestic Annals of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1861; and Sinclair, George, Satan's Invisible World Discovered, Edinburgh, 1871.

^ for instance, see Luck, Georg, Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds; a Collection of Ancient Texts, Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1985, 2006; also Kittredge, G. L., Witchcraft in Old and New England, New York: Russell & Russell, 1929, 1957, 1958; and Davies, Owen, Witchcraft, Magic and Culture, 1736–1951, Manchester University Press, 1999.

^Pope, J.C. (1968), Homilies of Aelfric: a supplementary collection (Early English Text Society 260), II, Oxford University Press, p. 796, lines 118–125, from the second manuscript in an appendix to De Auguriis, lesson XVII from Ælfric's "Lives of the Saints".

^ Brian Levack (The Witch Hunt in Early Modern Europe) multiplied the number of known European witch trials by the average rate of conviction and execution, to arrive at a figure of around 60,000 deaths. Anne Lewellyn Barstow (Witchcraze) adjusted Levack's estimate to account for lost records, estimating 100,000 deaths. Ronald Hutton (Triumph of the Moon) argues that Levack's estimate had already been adjusted for these, and revises the figure to approximately 40,000.

From LoveToKnow 1911

.WITCHCRAFT, a term often used of magical
practices of all sorts, but here confined to the malevolent
("black") magic of women.^Witchcraft was practiced by "cunning folk," a term for practitioners of "white magic."

^Members of some religions have applied the term witchcraft in a pejorative sense to refer to all magical or ritual practices other than those sanctioned by their own doctrines - although this has become less common, at least in the Western world.

.It
should, however, be noted that the male witch occasionally appears in folklore, while "white witchcraft" is common;
the practices of the witch of Endor are akin rather to spiritualism than witchcraft.^Kira's second step is to use her solitary, white witch spells and witchcraft to symbolically rid herself of her ex-fiance's bad karma.

^Asked how he feels about belonging to a heavily matriarchal tradition, one male witch answered: "I'd rather be first mate on a ship that is solid than captain on a ship that has a rotten hull, a ship that is sinking.

.The German
term hexe was not originally applied to human beings at
all, but to child-devouring demons, corresponding to the Roman
lamia; and it is used
in this sense till the 14th century; it does not appear in
literature in its present sense till some time in the 13th
century.^Does she have a part of the Original Sin thought common to all of humanity?

^Members of some religions have applied the term witchcraft in a pejorative sense to refer to all magical or ritual practices other than those sanctioned by their own doctrines - although this has become less common, at least in the Western world.

.The modern European conception of the witch is perhaps the
result of the fusion of
several originally discrete ideas.^This is an idea which it was left to Hawthorne to originate: ancient nor modern fiction supplies a parallel to Pearl.

.In some countries we find the
distinction made between conjurers, witches and sorcerers; the
former were supposed to raise the devil by means of spells and force him to do
their will; the witch proceeded by way of friendly pact with an
evil spirit; a third class produced strange effects, without the
aid of spirits (see Magic), by means of images or forms
of words.^The force of the devil is only through the operation or manipulation of evil spirits.

.We also find a distinction drawn between diviners,
mathematici (= astrologers), crystal-gazers, necromancers
and others; but it must be remembered that our knowledge for the
earlier period is rather of learned ideas than of the actual
popular beliefs, and for the later period of the popular belief
sophisticated by ecclesiastical subtleties.^We must learn to use our weapons.

.In present-day belief
the witch is, like the savage
magician, initiated by another or herself performs ceremonies
believed to give her magical powers.^From ancient Egyptians to modern-day witches, King Solomon to Native American shamans, individuals throughout time have possessed the power to work with the spirit world.

.She possesses a familiar (see
Lycanthropy; Magic), whose form she can assume;
she can ride through the air in some
cases and is equally adept at
all kinds of magic.^Wilt ride with me, my child, some moonlit night, To see thy father .

The Scarlet Letter, Part 217 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.washburn.edu [Source type: Original source]

^A diviner, witch doctor, or in the case of the Salem Witch Trials, a possessed person, sees the image or specter of an accused witch, and this "spectral evidence" is seen as confirming the accused as a witch.

^ABBERZANES We must take heed we ride through all the puddles 'Twixt this and that now, that your safeguard there May be most probably dabbled .

The Witch, by Thomas Middleton23 January 2010 20:34 UTCwww.tech.org [Source type: Original source]

.Sir A. C. Lyall maintains that the witch is a
person who works magic by her own powers, not by the aid and counsel of supernatural beings;
but this view, though it may be true of poisoning and similar
features formerly reckoned a part of witchcraft, does not apply to
the European witch.^I am a person that is very intersted in witchcraft and witches.

.Witchcraft and possession are found in close
relation in the psychical epidemics of the middle ages, but are otherwise
unrelated.^One of the fastest growing religious movements in the world today is Witchcraft , also known as the Earth Religion , and closely related to Paganism and Goddess Worship .

Witchcraft among Primitive Peoples

.Although magical powers are everywhere attributed to women,
witchcraft as here defined is by no means universal; in Europe alone is the woman the
almost exclusive repository of magical powers; in the Congo the muntu ndongo
may be either a man or a woman, and in fact the sexes are said to
be engaged in magical pursuits in approximately equal numbers; in
Australia men are much
more concerned with magic than women, but the latter have certain
forms peculiar to themselves in the central area, and, as in
medieval Europe, it is largely concerned with sexual matters.^No living man may hinder me!"

Witch-king of Angmar, Lord of the Nazgul23 January 2010 20:34 UTCwww.tuckborough.net [Source type: Original source]

^Paul says “the head of the woman is the man,” meaning that the women are to be subordinate to men.

.At
the present day the European witch is almost invariably old, but
this is not characteristic of the female magician of primitive
peoples, or not to the same extent; it must be remembered that the
modern idea of witchcraft is largely a learned product - the result
of scholastic and inquisitorial ingenuity, mingled to a greater or
less extent with genuine folk beliefs.^Nsereko concludes that a genuine belief in witchcraft can .

^The witches appear to be reconstructing an old religion in a new format, gradually working out a theology that owes more to ancient Indo-European models than to the "reverse Christianity" associated with the idea of Satanism.

.In India, among the Agariyas of Bengal, the instruction in witchcraft is given
by the old women; but the pupils are young girls.^When “Moses numbered them according to the word of the Lord” he was told to count “every male from a month old and upward.” Women and girls didn’t count as persons.

.The Indian witch
is believed to have a cat familiar;
there, as in Europe, many tests are applied to witches; they may be
thrown into water, or their identity discovered by various forms of
divination; or they
may be known by the fact that beating them with the castor oil plant makes
them cry out.^The Witches Sabbath Many covens may have a large get-together known as the witches Sabbath.

.As a punishment the witch may be shaved, made to
drink dirty water, or otherwise ill-used.^His son, too, inherited the persecuting spirit, and made himself so conspicuous in the martyrdom of the witches, that their blood may fairly be said to have left a stain upon him.

Witchcraft in
Classical Times. - .Our knowledge of witchcraft in Fagan
antiquity is slight, but Horace has left us an elaborate description of
the proceedings of two witches in the Esquiline cemetery.^It is as if one of the fairies, whom we left in our dear old England, had decked her out to meet us.” .

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne 17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.gutenberg.org [Source type: Original source]

^Our Guestbook - Please sign the Welsh Witchcraft Guestbook by clicking on the text to your left, or clicking on the text to your right to see what Visitors are saying.

.At the new moon they steal into it to gather bones and
noxious herbs, their feet bare, their hair loose and their robes tucked up.^He gathered here and there an herb, or grubbed up a root, and put it into the basket on his arm.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne 17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.gutenberg.org [Source type: Original source]

^One day, in Chillingworth's laboratory, the two men fall into a casual conversation about some dark, flabby herbs which Dimmesdale has recently gathered.

^She wondered what sort of herbs they were, which the old man was so sedulous to gather.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne 17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.gutenberg.org [Source type: Original source]

So far from aiming
at secrecy, however, they alarm their neighbours with their cries.
.Making a hollow in the ground they rend a black lamb over it to summon the dead.^They believed that the Ka would use these as the real item because the mortuary priests possessed magic that would make them real for the dead.

.Then taking two
images, one of wool
representing a witch, one of wax
representing the man whose infidelity she wishes to punish, a witch
performs magical ceremonies; the moon turns red, hell hounds and snakes glide over the spot.^If there are multiple moons, the witch is only affected by one of them.

Then they bury the muzzle of a wolf and burn the waxen image; as it melts, so fades the life of its
prototype. .In Greece
Thessalian women had the reputation of being specially powerful
witches; their poisons were famous and they were said to be able to
make the moon descend from the sky.^Power: Enchanted Weapon: The witch may enchant a single broom to act as a +1 magical weapon (that they are automatically proficient with) that does 1d3 bludgeoning damage.

Medieval Witchcraft

.We know less of early and medieval witchcraft than of modern
savage and popular beliefs; our knowledge of it is drawn partly
from secular sources - the laws against, and in later times the
trials for the offence - partly from ecclesiastical sources; but in
each case the popular creed is filtered through the mind of a
writer who did not necessarily understand or share the belief.^Still dangerous The image of witchcraft in the popular mindset has come a long way since the time of the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem witch trials, when thousands of women were persecuted, prosecuted, tortured and even burned for their beliefs.

^It is claimed that witchcraft tends to correct what W. Holman Keith called the fundamental religious error of our time: "to substitute force as the divine and ruling principle in place of beauty and love, to make destruction, in which the prowess of the male excels, more important in life than the creativity of the female."

^Under the monotheistic religions of the Levant (primarily Christianity, and Islam), witchcraft came to be associated with heresy, rising to a fever pitch among the Catholics, Protestants, and secular leadership of the European Late Medieval/Early Modern period.

.For
the earlier period we have penitentials, decisions of councils,
discussions as to the possibility of the various kinds of
witchcraft, as to their exact relation to the sin of heresy or as to the mechanism by which the
supposed results were achieved; at a later period the trials of
witches before the Inquisition are of great
importance; but the beliefs of this period must be sharply
distinguished from those of the earlier one.^Contains short biographies of famous seventeenth New Englanders, including various men involved in witchcraft trials.

Research Guide to Colonial Witchcraft Trial Materials at the Connecticut State Library18 January 2010 11:011 UTCwww.cslib.org [Source type: Academic]

^Still dangerous The image of witchcraft in the popular mindset has come a long way since the time of the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem witch trials, when thousands of women were persecuted, prosecuted, tortured and even burned for their beliefs.

Finally we have a
great mass of material in the secular trials of the 16th and two
following centuries.

.There are marked differences in the character of the witchcraft
beliefs of different countries, due perhaps in part to the
influence of the Inquisition, which reacted on the popular
conceptions, in part to real differences in the original folk
beliefs.^Still dangerous The image of witchcraft in the popular mindset has come a long way since the time of the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem witch trials, when thousands of women were persecuted, prosecuted, tortured and even burned for their beliefs.

.In northern countries the witches' Sabbath never seems to assume any importance;
in Germany, in the form of
the Brocken assembly on May
Eve, it is a prominent feature, and
in England we may bring it
into relation with the belief that at certain periods of the year
demons and spirits are abroad and have special powers; in south
Europe the idea of the Sabbath seems to owe much of its prominence
to the association of witchcraft with heresy and the assemblies of
the Waldenses and
others.^The classical period of witch-hunts in Europe fall into the Early Modern period or about 1450 to 1700, spanning the upheavals of the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, resulting in tens of thousand of executions.

^The witches appear to be reconstructing an old religion in a new format, gradually working out a theology that owes more to ancient Indo-European models than to the "reverse Christianity" associated with the idea of Satanism.

Again,. the "evil
eye" (q.v.) is especially associated with the south of .Europe;
and the "ligature" (production of impotence by magical means, often only with
reference to a specified individual) has always played a far larger
part in the conception of witchcraft than it has in the less
amorous northern climes, and it is doubtless due to this in great
part that woman in this part of Europe is so prominent in magic; in
the north, on the other hand,.^Members of some religions have applied the term witchcraft in a pejorative sense to refer to all magical or ritual practices other than those sanctioned by their own doctrines - although this has become less common, at least in the Western world.

we find the .storm-raising woman, hardly yet extinct in the
north of Scotland, already
famous in pre-Christian times; we may perhaps connect the
importance of woman in Germany in part with the conception of the
Wild Hunt and the spirits who fly by night, though doubtless other
factors played their part.^Who knows though, he may have made it through the night.

^A central part of this philosophy is the observance of eight seasonal festivals during the year, resulting in deep connections built between ourselves and the Gods of of Nature and Spirit. At other times we meet to work, study, meditate and enjoy each other's company.

Development of Ideas

.In the history of European witchcraft we may distinguish three
periods: (I) down to A.D. 1230, in which the real existence of some
or even all kinds of magic is doubted, and the various species are
clearly held asunder in secular and ecclesiastical writings; (2)
from 1230 to 1430, during which, under the influence of scholasticism, the
doubts as to the possibility and reality of witchcraft gradually
vanish, while side by side with this theoretical development the
practice of the Inquisition instils the new conception into the
popular mind and produces the impression that a great recrudescence
of witchcraft was in progress; (3) from 1430 onwards the previously
disparate conceptions became fused, at any rate in literature, and
we reach the period of witch persecution, which did not come to an
end till the 17th or even the 18th century.^That’s really all it comes down to.

.In the first of these three periods we find (1) the conception
of the malefica, who, in common with her male counterpart,
uses poison, spells and waxen
images, produces tempests, works by means of the evil eye and is
regarded as the cause of impotence, a feature which continually
called the attention of theologians and jurists to the question of
magic by the problems raised by suits for divorce or nullity of marriage.^In white magic the three highest names are used for these evil ends.

^Power: The witch gains the Spell Thematics feat affecting the Pentacles Dabble spell list, raising the DC of all affected spells by +1 and with the illusory manifestation always including images of pentacles.

.(2) Side by
side with her, we find, this time without a male counterpart, the
striga, frequently embodying also the ideas of the
lamia and larva; originally she is a female
demon, in bird form (and in many
parts of the world female demons are specially malignant), who flies by night, kills
children or even handsome young men, in order to eat them, assumes
animal form, sometimes by means of an ointment, or has an animal
familiar, rides on a besom, a
piece of wood or an animal, and is sometimes brought into connexion
with the souls of the dead.^Frequently she is severely assaulted and sometimes even killed.

This latter feature arises from the
gradual fusion of the belief in the striga, the
Unholde, with the kindly suite of Frau Holde, the souls for whom the
tabulae fortunae were spread. .The flight through the air
is so common a feature in the savage creed that the demon-idea of
the striga in Europe can hardly be a genuine folk-belief;
or, if it is, it must have existed side by side with a similar
witch-belief, of which no traces seem to exist in the earlier
literature The same remark applies to belief in transformation.^Stringent laws threatened a witch to whom an abandoned wife might apply, for revenge through malefica , since she had no recourse under law.

.Although the development of the sexual element is mainly of later
date and contemporaneous with the evolution of the Sabbath idea, the
concubitus daemonum was certainly not unknown to the
period before 800. This intrusion of the incubus in the domain of witchcraft was
probably due to the attitude of the church towards magic.^Southeastern Cameroonian judicial attitudes towards norms underlying popular beliefs in witchcraft serve as an exception.

.Ecclesiastical and Civil Law.^In the Middle Ages, their existence was recognized by the ecclesiastical and civil law.

The Witch, by Thomas Middleton23 January 2010 20:34 UTCwww.tech.org [Source type: Original source]

- .For the attitude of the church
to witchcraft there are three factors to be considered: (r) the
Biblical recognition of its reality; (2) the universal belief in
demons and magic; and (3) the identification of these demons with
heathen deities.^Delightful and exciting reading brings the reader into world of the battle between good and evil, but the real problem is that there is witchcraft and sorcery as an alternative to fighting evil.

.The
orthodox view fluctuates between the theory that witchcraft is idolatry, a recognition of
real powers, and that it is disobedience, a superstitious following
of nonexistent gods.^Delightful and exciting reading brings the reader into world of the battle between good and evil, but the real problem is that there is witchcraft and sorcery as an alternative to fighting evil.

.The Biblical conception of a witch is a person
who deals with familiar spirits (Lev.^Wizard (Clairvoyant or Physic) - a male witch, conjurer, a ghost prognosticator Witchcraft - Practices of dealing with evil spirits (soothsaying and magic).

xxii.
.18) could have left no doubt that the crime was a real one in the Mosaic law.^But they confessed many other things of a less preposterous nature, and of which they were, no doubt, really guilty.

.Although the familiar plays but a
small part in this early period, we find that the
church early came to the conclusion that witchcraft depended on a
compact with demons; in the synod of Elvira (A.D. 306) it was
pronounced to be one of the three canonical sins - apostasy - and punished by
the refusal of communion, even on the death-bed.^Under the monotheistic religions of the Levant (primarily Christianity, and Islam), witchcraft came to be associated with heresy, rising to a fever pitch among the Catholics, Protestants, and secular leadership of the European Late Medieval/Early Modern period.

Augustine lays down (De doct.
chr. ii. xx.) that witchcraft depends on a pact with the devil; at
Worms in A.D. 829 the Frankish
bishops declared that the
devil aided both sexes to prepare love potions, to cause storms and
to abstract milk, fruits of the
field, &c.

.It must not, however, be supposed that all kinds of witchcraft
were equally recognized.^However, I must point out to all who have problems understanding those times that they need to study the history back then.

.The inmissores tempestatum and
the poisoners by magical means were commonly recognized as real;
but the striga was usually regarded as a pure
superstition.^The better part of my companion's character, if it have a better part, is that which usually comes uppermost in my regard, and forms the type whereby I recognise the man.

.An Irish synod
(c. A.D. 800) pronounces a Christian to be anathema, who ventures to
believe in the possibility of flight through the air and
blood-sucking; Stephen of Hungary (997-1038) likewise distinguishes the
malefica from the striga; Regino of Priim
(c. 906) concludes that the flight by night with the devil
and the goddess Diana is a
delusion, the work of the devil.^Any man who forces his wife to submit isn’t being a true Christian, because Christ does not force people to believe in him.

Burchard of Worms (d. .1025)
prescribes two years' penance for the belief that the
Unholde kill Christians, cook them and eat their hearts, which they replace by a piece of wood,
and then wake them.^And they ARE happening because of Christian beliefs .

^I have received information from people who really don’t understand what they are doing, and don't care how they mislead others, just so they make a buck.

Mastering The Magick Of Witchcraft: The Ancient Secrets Of Magick For Love, Success, Protection, And A Life You Have Always Dreamed!18 January 2010 11:011 UTCmasteringmagickwitchcraft.com [Source type: General]

.For those who took this
view, and even for others who, like John of Damascus, accepted the
striga, a mild attitude, in strong contrast to the later
persecutions, was the accepted policy.^Then he’ll have to turn this into a fundie site, and believers like you can cluster-fuck each other, without those nasty atheists disagreeing with you.

^And also like many of the people who challenge books, Mallory ignores the role of parents in guiding their children's choices -- unless, of course, she is the parent making those choices for everyone's children.

The Synod of Reisbach (799)
demands penance for witchcraft, but no punishment in this life.
John of Damascus, Agobard,
John of
Salisbury and Burchard are equally mild.

.For the church witchcraft was a canonical sin, or superstition;
for the civil law it was a violation of the civil rights of others,
so far as real results were produced.^Charismatic witchcraft is exercising control over other Christians by leaders or anyone within the church.

^According to civil law, people convicted of religious treason were sentenced to death and their goods confiscated while the Catholic Church feasted on their estate.

The Horrors of The Church and its Holy Inquisition18 January 2010 11:011 UTCwww.bibliotecapleyades.net [Source type: Original source]

Consequently we find the
legal distinction between the malefica and the
striga is equally marked. .The Frankish and Alemannish laws
of A.D. 500-600 accept the former but regard the latter as mere
superstition, The Lex Salica indeed punished the st;'iga
as a murderess, but only exacted wergeld.^When you cannot accept the former you have no reason to explore the latter; when you cannot talk of the latter, you have no positive examples to counterbalance the former.

.Rothar forbade judges to
kill the striga, and Charlemagne even punished the belief in
them.^Thus, the judicial practice of punishing individuals who kill alleged witches creates a conflict between state legal norms and norms underlying popular beliefs.

.The Alemanni (A.D. 600) forbade private torture of women suspected of witchcraft or
strigism.^In this document he affirms, that a mere suspicion of witchcraft justifies the immediate arrest and torture of the suspected person.

.But although witchcraft was criminal, and we find
occasional laws against sortiariae (Westfranks, A.D. 873),
or expulsions (from Pomerania, 1124, &c.^In the days of witchcraft all science was still in the condition of May-be; it is only just bringing itself to find a higher satisfaction in the imperturbable Must-be of law.

), in this period the
crime is unimportant save where maleficium is combined
with treason and the person
of the king is aimed at.

Further Development

In the second period (1230-1430) we have to deal with two
factors of fundamental importance: (1) the elaboration of demonology and allied
ideas by the scholastics, and (2) the institution of the
Inquisition to deal with the rising flood of heresy. .At the beginning of this era the
prevalent view of the striga seems to have been that she
really existed; Caesar of Heisterbach (c. 1225) recognizes
the female monster who kills
children; William of Paris
(c. 1230) agrees that lamiae and strigae
eat children, but they are allied to the dominae
nocturnae; that they are real women is a foolish belief.^He even causes women to eat their children.

.Scholastic ingenuity, however, soon disposed of rationalistic
objections to human flights through the air; the ride of
disembodied spirits, led by the devil, Diana, Herodias (the Aradia
of modern Italy), &c.,
became the assemblies of witches to do homage to the devil.^The force of the devil is only through the operation or manipulation of evil spirits.

^In France and England, the witches were supposed to ride uniformly upon broomsticks; but in Italy and Spain, the devil himself, in the shape of a goat, used to transport them on his back, which lengthened or shortened according to the number of witches he was desirous of accommodating.

^Witchcraft attributes supernatural powers to a human being, either through ascribing these attributes to a pact with the devil, similar to accusations made in New England during the Salem Witch Trials, or through other means.

But this fusion was not the
work of the scholastics alone; for the church, witchcraft had long
consisted in the recognition of demons. .The new sects, especially
the Cathars, who held that
the influence of the devil had perverted the teachings of Christianity, were,
like the early Christians, the object of unfounded charges, in this
case of worship of the devil; this naturally led to the belief that
they were given to witchcraft.^They will be given a new body.

.From the 7th century onwards women and priests figure largely in
the accusations of witchcraft, the latter because their office made
the canonical offence more serious, the former because love
potions, and especially impotentia ex maleficio, are the
weapons of the female sex.^But the return of the big weapon has made battles a lot more fun and definitely easier than before.

^The reason it is often incorrectly called Wicca witchcraft by many is because it is actually a form of witchcraft, but those practicing Wicca are more accurately referred to as Wiccans and not witches.

.With the
rise and development of the belief in the heretics' Sabbath, which
first appears early in the filth century, another sexual element -
the concubitus daemonum - began to play its part, and soon
the predominance of woman in magic was assured.^It reached its climax in the early part of the seventeenth century, which was the hottest period of the mania all over Europe.

^The child's attire, on the other hand, was distinguished by a fanciful, or, we might rather say, a fantastic ingenuity, which served, indeed, to heighten the airy charm that early began to develop itself in the little girl, but which appeared to have also a deeper meaning.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne 17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.gutenberg.org [Source type: Original source]

In 1250 certain
bishops gave to the Dominican Etienne de Bourbon (Stephanus de Borbone, d. .c.
1261) a description of the Sabbath; and twentyfive years later the
Inquisition took cognisance of the first case of this kind; from
the 14th century onwards the idea was indissolubly connected with
witchcraft.^Back again, three years later, and I decided, what the hell, so I asked the cashier about the stuff still gathering dust in the glass case, and it was like I'd pushed some kind of button.

Secret History of Modern Witchcraft18 January 2010 11:011 UTCdraeconin.com [Source type: Original source]

^France's first trial to declare witchcraft a crime took place in 1390.

^Several years later, a revised and updated version appeared in the first issue of LAShTAL , the journal of Eulis Lodge OTO, which by then I had joined.

Secret History of Modern Witchcraft18 January 2010 11:011 UTCdraeconin.com [Source type: Original source]

.In the first half of this second period, witchcraft was still
superstition for the canon
law, a civil wrong for the secular law; later, although these
ideas still persisted, all magic was held to be heresy; its reality
and heretical nature was expressly maintained by Thomas Aquinas.^As with these, so with the child; her garb was all of one idea with her nature.

The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne - Full Text Free Book (Part 4/5)17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.fullbooks.com [Source type: Original source]

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne 17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.gutenberg.org [Source type: Original source]

^The real reason for persistence of the witchcraft idea was that Christian authorities couldn't let it die, without admitting that God's word was wrong, and God's servants had committed millions of legal murders and tortured millions of helpless people without cause.

.Already in 1258 the inquisitors took cognisance of magic as heresy,
and from 1320 onwards there was a great increase in the number of
cases.^And the devil is accounted so good a master, that we cannot commit so great a number of his slaves to the flames, but what there shall arise from their ashes a sufficient number to supply their place."

.At first the witch was handed over to the secular arm for
execution, either as an obstinate heretic or as the worker of evil
magic; later it was found necessary to make provision for the
numerous cases in which the offender abjured; it was decided that
repentance due to fear did not release the witch from the
consequences of her heresy.^Summary: Dimmy and Daffney Snork help a mermaid retrieve her magic crown which has been stolen by an evil witch.

.Towards the end of the second period the jurisdiction passed in
'France from the spiritual to
the secular courts by a decision of the parlement of Paris in 1391. The inquisitors
did not, however, resign their work, but extended their sphere of
operations; the great European persecution from 1434 to 1447 was
ecclesiastical as well as secular.^Once that's done, work your way towards the end of the path and search the two dead bodies for goodies.

.In the third period (1430
onwards) the opening of which is marked by this attempt to root out
witchcraft, we find that the work of the scholastics and
inquisitors has resulted in the complete fusion of originally
distinct ideas and the crystallization of our modern idea of
witch.^Find out in our review .

^The classical period of witch-hunts in Europe fall into the Early Modern period or about 1450 to 1700, spanning the upheavals of the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, resulting in tens of thousand of executions.

.To the methods of the inquisitors must be ascribed in great
part the spread of these conceptions amongst the people; for the
Malleus Maleficarurra or Inquisitor's Manual (1489),
following closely on the important bull Summis desiderantes
affectibus (Innocent VIII., 1484), gave them a handbook from
which they plied their tortured victims with questions and were
able to extract such
confessions as they desired; by a strange perversion these
admissions, wrung from their victims by rack or thumb-screw, were described as voluntary.^They are such gracious people.

.The subsequent history of witchcraft may be treated in less
detail.^Before entering further into the history of Witchcraft, it may be as well if we consider the absurd impersonation of the evil principle formed by the monks in their legends.

^If any lesson may be drawn from the tragical and too often disgustful history of witchcraft, it is not one of exultation at our superior enlightenment or shame at the shortcomings of the human intellect.

.In England the trials were most numerous in the 17th
century; but the absence of judicial torture made the cases
proportionately less numerous than they were on the European
continent.^The Church of England has claimed, and is entitled to the merit, of having been less influenced in these matters than any other sect of Christians; but still they were tainted with the superstition of the age.

.One of the most famous witch-finders was Matthew
Hopkins, himself hanged for witchcraft after a career of some three
years.^At least show some love for Mary Jane, girl was one of the most solicited models around.

.Many of his methods were not far removed from actual
torture; he pricked the body of the witch to find anaesthetic
areas; other signs were the inability to shed tears, or repeat the Lord's Prayer, the practice of walking backwards or
against the sun, throwing the hair loose, intertwining the fingers,
&c.^That was actually worldwide.’’ He said most of the real witches committed suicide, often drowning themselves rather than be tortured by Puritan or other authorities.

.Witches were also weighed against the Bible, or thrown into water, the thumbs and toes
tied crosswise, and those who did not sink were adjudged guilty; a
very common practice was to shave the witch, perhaps to discover
insensible spots, but more probably because originally the familiar
spirit was supposed to cling to the hair.^Her right thumb tied to her left great-toe, and vice versa , she was thrown into the water.

^More and Glanvil were faithful sons of the Church; and if the persecution of witches was especially rife during the ascendency of the Puritans, it was because they happened to be in power while there was a reaction against Sadducism.

^The last execution in Switzerland was that of Anna Göldi in 1782, at the time it was widely denounced as state-sponsored murder throughout Switzerland and Germany, and not technically a witch trial since explicit allegations of witchcraft were avoided in the official trial.

.Occasional cases of lynching continue to occur, even at
the present day.^Remember Christianity has a history of murdering innocent people on religious fervor, no different that what has occurred in present day America with Islam.

.In Scotland trials, accompanied by torture, were very frequent
in the 17th century.^So sad to hear about what had happened in our country back in the 17th century especially with the Salem Witch Trials.

.In New England
there was a remarkable outburst of fanaticism - the famous Salem
witchcraft delusion - in 1691-1682; but many of the prisoners were
not convicted and some of the convicts received the governor's pardon (see Salem, Mass.^Also recounts incidents of supposed witchcraft in New England, especially Salem.

Research Guide to Colonial Witchcraft Trial Materials at the Connecticut State Library18 January 2010 11:011 UTCwww.cslib.org [Source type: Academic]

Research Guide to Colonial Witchcraft Trial Materials at the Connecticut State Library18 January 2010 11:011 UTCwww.cslib.org [Source type: Academic]

).

.On the continent of Europe the beginning of the 16th century saw
the trial of witchcraft cases taken out of the hands of the
Inquisition in France and Germany, and the influence of the
Malleus became predominant in these countries.^Contends that the witchcraft cases reflect a world made up out of multiple and overlapping realms of meaning and behavior requiring a tolerance of alternative interpretations.

Research Guide to Colonial Witchcraft Trial Materials at the Connecticut State Library18 January 2010 11:011 UTCwww.cslib.org [Source type: Academic]

^In these cases, defendants employ genuine belief in witchcraft as a defense to murder and manslaughter.

^Winthrop, as a known alchemist and a person of status, brought an important moderating influence to the colonial witchcraft trials in Connecticut.

Research Guide to Colonial Witchcraft Trial Materials at the Connecticut State Library18 January 2010 11:011 UTCwww.cslib.org [Source type: Academic]

.Among
famous continental trials may be mentioned that of a woman named
Voisin in 1680, who was burnt alive for poisoning, in connexion
with the Marquise de Brinvilliers.^He was burnt alive in the Place de Greve.

.Trials and executions did not
finally cease till the end of the 18th century.^From the mid-14th century to the end of the 18th century, torture was a common and sanctioned part of the legal proceedings of most European countries which was approved by the inquisition in cases of heresy.

The Horrors of The Church and its Holy Inquisition18 January 2010 11:011 UTCwww.bibliotecapleyades.net [Source type: Original source]

.In Spain a woman was burnt in 1781 at Seville by the Inquisition; the
secular courts condemned a girl to decapitation in 1782; in Germany
an execution took place in Posen
in 1793. In South
America and Mexico witch-burning seems to
have lasted till well on into the second half of the 19th century,
the latest instance apparently being in 1888 in Peru.^Muggles being burned in mistake for witches, f.

.The total number of victims of the witch persecutions is
variously estimated at from 10o,000 to several millions.^The Pagan Federation of Great Britain has no precise figures, but estimates the number of Pagans in the British Isles is between 50,000 and 200,000.

If it is
true that Benedict Carpzov
(1J95-1666) passed sentence on 20,000 victims, the former figure is
undoubtedly too low.

Rise of the Critical Spirit

.It is commonly assumed and has been asserted by Lecky that the
historical evidence for witchcraft is vast and varied.^Witchcraft, in various historical, anthropological, religious and mythological contexts, is the use of certain kinds of alleged supernatural or magical powers.

.It is true
that a vast amount of authority for the belief in witchcraft may be
quoted; but the testimony for the occurrence of marvels is small in
quantity, if we except the valueless declaration of the victims of
torture; testimony as to the pathological side of witchcraft is
abundant, but affords no proof of the erroneous inferences drawn
from the genuine phenomena.^Nsereko concludes that a genuine belief in witchcraft can .

^I understand that you are passionately defending your belief, and that no amount of reason will convince you of that christianity is a sham because it is so deeply a part of you that you cannot afford to let it go.

.If this uncritical attitude is found in
our own day, it is not surprising that the rationalistic spirit was
long in making its appearance and slow in gaining the victory over
superstition.^There are a few secrets to making them work - but once I found out what they were, all of our money worries "evaporated" rapidly - for good !

Mastering The Magick Of Witchcraft: The Ancient Secrets Of Magick For Love, Success, Protection, And A Life You Have Always Dreamed!18 January 2010 11:011 UTCmasteringmagickwitchcraft.com [Source type: General]

^The conclusive proof remains, that many in our own day, being put to the torture, have confessed the fact, and been burned alive accordingly.

.From the 15th century onwards the old view that
transformation and transportation were not realities but delusions,
caused directly by the devil, began to gather force.^In a word, old Roger Chillingworth was a striking evidence of man’s faculty of transforming himself into a devil, if he will only, for a reasonable space of time, undertake a devil’s office.

.Among the
important works may be mentioned Johann Weier's De Praestigiis
Daemonum (1563), Reginald Scott's (c. 1538-1590)
Discovery of Witchcraft (1584) which was ordered to be
burnt by King James I., who
had himself replied to it in his Daemonologie (1597),
Balthasar Bekker's Betooverde T'Vereld (1691), which,
though it went farther in the direction of scepticism, had less influence than
Friedrich v.^The Dominican Johann Herolt declared: "Most women belie their catholic faith with charms and spells, after the fashion of Eve their first mother, who believed the devil speaking through the serpent rather than God himself .

.Although at the height of the witch persecution torture wrung
from innocent victims valueless confessions which are at best
evidence that long-continued agony of body may be instrumental in
provoking hallucinations, there can be no doubt that witches
commonly, like the magician in lower planes of culture, firmly
believe in their own powers, and the causes of this seem to be not
merely subjective.^There seemed no choice for me but to agree .

The Scarlet Letter, Part 217 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.washburn.edu [Source type: Original source]

.(I) Ignorance of the effects of suggestion leads
both the witch and others to regard as supernormal effects which
are really due to the victim's belief in the possibility of
witchcraft.^In both of these conduit pipe cases, the judges refused to consider the defendants' genuine belief in witchcraft as a mitigating factor.

This applies especially to cases of "ligature.'" .(2) Telepathy seems in some
cases to play a part in establishing the witch's reputation; some
evidence has been produced that hypnotism at a distance is possible, and an
account of her powers given by a French witch to Dr Gibotteau
suggests that this element cannot be neglected in appraising the
evidence for witchcraft.^It was very strange how people were being accused as witches and users of witchcraft without any real evidence and it was even stranger to see that people truly believed in the accusers.

^A diviner, witch doctor, or in the case of the Salem Witch Trials, a possessed person, sees the image or specter of an accused witch, and this "spectral evidence" is seen as confirming the accused as a witch.

(3) Whatever be the real .explanation of
the belief in poltergeists (q.v.) and "physical
phenomena" (q.v.), the belief in them rests on a very different
basis from that of the belief in .lycanthropy; exaggeration and credulity
alone will not explain how these phenomena come to be associated
with witchcraft.^And worst of all, these people had no idea that this "trip" was coming on, how long it would last or what was causing it.

.On the other hand, subjective causes played their
part in causing the witch to believe in herself.^On the one hand, people who genuinely believe in witchcraft might find it reasonable to think one has an obligation to point out suspected witches.

.(4)
Auto-suggestion may produce hallucinations and delusions in
otherwise sane subjects; and for those who do not question the
reality of witchcraft this must operate powerfully.^Really, that is not what those who have done the research are finding out.

.(5) The
descriptions of witches show that in many cases their sanity was
more than questionable; trance
and hysteria also played
their part.^Some of these disclosures were too much even for the abundant faith of King James, and he more than once exclaimed, that the witches were like their master, "extreme lyars."

.(6) It is uncertain to what extent drugs and salves
have helped to cause hallucination; but that they had some
share seems certain, though modern experimenters have been led to
throw doubt on the alleged effects of some of the drugs; here too,
however, the effects of suggestion must be reckoned with; we do not
associate the use of tobacco
with hallucinations, but it was employed to produce them in Haiti in the same way as hemp among the Bantu of the
present day.^Here we have both facets of the supernatural: At first, the miraculous nature of the snake caused people to realize that the plague was God's doing, and they worked on bettering themselves.

^Warning: some of these spells are highly controversial (because they are so effective in bringing love) and should only be used in desperate circumstances.

Mastering The Magick Of Witchcraft: The Ancient Secrets Of Magick For Love, Success, Protection, And A Life You Have Always Dreamed!18 January 2010 11:011 UTCmasteringmagickwitchcraft.com [Source type: General]

^Treat the Block Button the same way that the Gears Of War games uses the Cover system.

.(7) Hallucinations occurring under torture must have
tended to convince bystanders and victims alike, no less than the
acceptance of suggestions, positive and negative.^In the latter year, no less than three tribunals were occupied with trials originating in this humiliating belief: we shall cite only one of them.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne 17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.gutenberg.org [Source type: Original source]

.As regards the nature of the ideas accepted as a result of
suggestion or auto-suggestion, they were on the one hand derived,
as we have seen, from ecclesiastical and especially scholastic
sources; but beneath these elements is a stratum of popular belief,
derived in the main perhaps from pagan sources, for to this day
in Italy witchcraft is known as la vecchia ?eligione,
and has been handed down in an unbroken tradition for countless
generations.^As with these, so with the child; her garb was all of one idea with her nature.

The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne - Full Text Free Book (Part 4/5)17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.fullbooks.com [Source type: Original source]

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne 17 January 2010 14:17 UTCwww.gutenberg.org [Source type: Original source]

^Practices and beliefs that have been termed "witchcraft" do not constitute a single identifiable religion, since they are found in a wide variety of cultures, both present and historical; however these beliefs do generally involve religious elements dealing with spirits or deities, the afterlife, magic and ritual.

.BIBLIOGRAPHY. - For a short list of general works and a
topographical bibliography, see Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopddie,
s.v.^Modern African states generally do not see witchcraft as legitimate, although they usually stop short of criminalizing popular beliefs in witchcraft.

." Hexen"; see also W. H. D. Adams, Witch, Warlock, Magician, pp.^In both historical and mythological contexts, witches are most often female, the male equivalent being a wizard, sorcerer, warlock or magician.

.1 -9; Niceforo and Sighele, La Mala Vita a
Roma; E. N. Rolfe, Naples in the Nineties.
For Africa, see R. E.'Dennett,
Seven
Years among the Fjort, Folklore of the Fjort and At
the Back of the Black Man's Mind. For the American negro, see
M. A. Owen, Old Rabbit the
Voodoo. For India, see W.
Crooke, Introduction to Popular Religion and Folklore in N.
India. For a survey of European witchcraft up to the 16th
century, see J. Hansen, Zauberwahn (190o) and
Quellen (1901).^The old woman is convinced that the minister puts on a pious front for the public - but that, in reality, he is a follower of the Black Man in the forest.

See also Graf v. .Honbrock, Das
Papsttum, i.; O. Stoll, Suggestion and Hypnotismus;
Tylor, Primitive Culture. On salves and magical plants,
see E. Gilbert, Les Plantes magiques; Bastian, Der
Mensch in der Geschichte. On witchcraft and insanity, see Hack-Tuke, History of Insanity;
O. Snell, Hexenprocesse and Geistesstorung. For a
discussion of the evidence for the real existence of witchcraft,
see E. Gurney, Phantasms
of the Living, vol.^It was very strange how people were being accused as witches and users of witchcraft without any real evidence and it was even stranger to see that people truly believed in the accusers.

From BibleWiki

.
(1Sam15:23; 2Kg9:22; 2Chr33:6; Mic5:12; Nah3:4; Gal5:20).^Biblical Notations According to prophecy, it seems there will be a recurrence of witchcraft and sorcery during the last days (Revelation 9:21; 18:23:21:8; and 22:15).

^Witchcraft attributes supernatural powers to a human being, either through ascribing these attributes to a pact with the devil, similar to accusations made in New England during the Salem Witch Trials, or through other means.

The "witch of En-dor" (1 Sam. .28) was a
necromancer, i.e., one who feigned to hold converse with the dead.^The common notion was that the sleepers soul had wandered away to other places, enabling her to see distant people and even to hold conversations with the dead.

The damsel with "a spirit of divination" (Acts16:16) was possessed by an evil
spirit, or, as the words are literally rendered, "having a spirit,
a pithon." The reference is to the heathen god Apollo, who was regarded as the god
of prophecy.

Witchcraft is the use of certain powers, said to be supernatural. A woman practising witchcraft is called a witch, a man practicing it is known as a witch but can also called by outsiders as a wizard (which derived from a mostly Northern Europe Druidic & Germanic system), (a warlock is a term concocted by Hollywood scriptwriters for the 1960's TV show Bewitched), or a sorcerer. Very often, such people have a knowledge of the pharmaceutical effects of certain herbs or shrubs. They then use this knowledge to help people who are sick.

In the early 20th century, a system of beliefs, a creed has been developed. This creed is called Wicca. Among various civilizations in Ancient times, those with magical powers, who were not considered Gods or Goddesses, were often considered Witches or Sorcerers.
HGIII